Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through 'The Magic Flute'

Various Artists (Composer), Walter Babiak (Conductor), Adriana Braun (Performer), Gordon McLeod (Performer), Marjorie Sparks (Performer), Monica Whicher (Performer), Nils Brown (Performer), Russell Braun (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Adriana Braun, Gordon McLeod, Marjorie Sparks, Monica Whicher, Nils Brown, et al.
• Conductor: Walter Babiak
• Composer: Various Artists
• Audio CD (April 11, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Children's Group
• ASIN: B00000212M
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,528 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #28 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Fantasies
  • #47 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Reeds & Winds
  • #70 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Languages > German

Track Listings

1. Lost In the Opera House: Oh Help Me

2. Papageno And the Birds: The Best Birdcatcher

3. The Queen Of the Night: You Must Free My Daughter

4. Pamina Arrives, Papageno's Magic Bells: A Girlfriend

5. The Castle Of Sarastro: O Endless Night

6. The Magic Flute: O Listen

7. The Escape: Let Us Hurry

8. Sarastro's Welcome: The Gods Above

9. The Attack Of the Queen: The Powers Of Night

10. Pamina's Lament: Oh, My Heart Is Broken

11. In the Labyrinth: Seekers Of the Light

12. Papageno and Papagena: Ring, O Bells

13. Conclusion: Our Journey Is Over

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun intro to opera for children, November 25, 2001

By 

M. Ragen "searagen" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through 'The Magic Flute' (Audio CD)

This is a great CD for kids. It is different from the other Classical Kids CDs in that this is the only one that stays completely within one piece of music. This format allows the story of the opera to be developed in a way that maintains the integrity of the opera both in terms of time and space -- and this gives the kids a great way to follow along. This is a really neat way to introduce classical opera to children because the story on the CD is compressed enough to keep their attention and there is enough of the music to give them a sense of the entire story. Our kids have both enjoyed this one.

To the point of the naysayer's review, if you want the Classical Kids CD that covers a broader spectrum of Mozart, then you should go for the 'Magnificent Voyage'. That CD is more typical of the other Classical Kids CDs in that its story includes music from Mozart's entire career.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars kids asking for more!, January 12, 2000

By 

JT "Julia" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through 'The Magic Flute' (Audio CD)

I know not a lot about opera..my kids (8,6, and 6) always had laughed when it came on the radio. This CD is incredible and a terrific way to introduce opera to children..great story, great music....the children asked for it 4 times over and when finally it was bedtime asked "But can we have it again tomorrow, Mummy?" Now these are kids who can hardly sit still..I am amazed. All in all, very educational, AND very enjoyable -for all of us. I'm collecting the set for sure!

It is now more than a year since I wrote this review, and I am pleased to say we DID collect the whole set of CDs. "Mozart's magic fantasy" is still probably the favourite, though we have enjoyed all CDs. The story setting and music does give a good introduction to the works of Mozart especially of course "The magic flute", enough so that the children will recognise this opera when they hear it being played as "serious music". Grandparents too love it when they hear the children singing along to THEIR favourite classical music.

The dramatisation on this particular CD is extremely good, drawing the listener into the story. Our children become quite involved in the excitement and fear as the Queen of the Night sweeps into the scene, feel sorry for Papageno searching for his loved one, and cheer when Tamino and Pamina are safe.

These CDs are a great introduction to classical music. If you are homeschooling, or just interested in giving your children a broad experience of good music, they can be used with great enjoyment, while reading good books about the particular composer, and listening to further of his works. I have seen other families,who thought they didn't like classical music, "hooked" by this series. They went on to explore further the music of many great composers.

Would we buy this CD again??? Definitely!!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My daughter fell in love with Mozart!, October 8, 2005

By 

Lorel Shea (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through 'The Magic Flute' (Audio CD)

Mozart's Magic Fantasy captivated my daughter at the tender age of two. She is five now and still LOVES to listen to this recording! It's a bit different from the traditional version, but it contains much of the original music, along with a milder story line for the kids. After two years of listening to this version, we purchased the full Opera performance on video. Despite the fact that the entire performance is in a language my daughter doesn't speak (German) she has watched the film presentation of The Magic Flute over and over again. Now she wants flute lessons...! It all started with the Classical Kids story, Mozart's Magic Fantasy.